Board of Directors

Fiona McBain is the former chief executive of Scottish Friendly Assurance, a mutually owned financial services group with over 1,000,000 policyholders. Fiona was appointed a Director in 2009 and became Chair in 2017. She is also Chair of the Nomination Committee. Before joining Scottish Friendly in 1998, Fiona, a chartered accountant, was employed by Prudential plc and Arthur Young (now EY) where she spent some time working across a number of industry sectors, both in the UK and in the United States. She is also a nonexecutive director of Currys plc (and Chair of the Audit Committee), Direct Line Insurance Group plc (and Chair of the Investment Committee) and Monzo Bank Limited (and Chair of the Audit Committee).

Justin Dowley is a former international investment banker and was appointed a Director in 2015 and is Senior Independent Director. He qualified as a chartered accountant at Price Waterhouse in 1980. Subsequently he was a director of Morgan Grenfell & Co. Limited, Head of Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch Europe and a founder partner of Tricorn Partners LLP. Formerly the chairman of Intermediate Capital Group plc, he is currently a deputy chairman of The Takeover Panel, the Chairman of Melrose Industries plc and a non-executive director of a number of private companies.

Vikram Kumaraswamy is the Head of Strategy and Corporate Development at Unilever. Vikram was appointed to the Board in 2023. He leads portfolio development and capital allocation for the Unilever group, with responsibility for strategy, M&A sourcing and execution, competitor intelligence and corporate venturing. A chartered accountant, Vikram was responsible for significant changes to Unilever’s portfolio, positioning the company for superior long-term growth and involved in other strategic transformation initiatives. Vikram was previously CFO of PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk, based in Jakarta.

Mark Fitzpatrick was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Prudential plc until February 2023. Prior to this he was the Group Financial Officer & Chief Operating Officer of Prudential plc from 2017 to 2022. Mark led the Prudential’s Group Executive Committee, was a member of its Board, and had overall responsibility for the executive management and leadership of the business. He was appointed to the Board on 5 October 2021 and became Chair of the Audit Committee on 1 April 2022. Prior to joining Prudential in 2017, Mark was a Managing Partner at Deloitte and a member of the Executive Committee. He was Vice Chairman of Deloitte between 2011 and 2015. Mark previously led Deloitte’s insurance & investment management audit practice and its insurance industry practice. He worked at Deloitte for 26 years, advising global insurance and investment management clients.

Sharon Flood is a Non-Executive Director of Getlink SE, where she is Chair of Safety and Security, and Pets at Home PLC, where she is Chair of the Remuneration Committee and formerly Chair of the Audit Committee. Sharon was appointed to the Board in 2023. Sharon previously served as Chair of Seraphine Group PLC and S T Dupont SA, and as non-executive director and Chair of the Audit Committees at Crest Nicolson PLC, and Network Rail. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Sharon has also held leadership roles at Sun European Partners and the John Lewis Partnership. She is currently a Trustee of the University of Cambridge and formerly a Trustee of both the Science Museum Group and Shelter.

Patrick Maxwell is the Regius Professor of Physic and head of the School of Clinical Medicine at Cambridge University. He was appointed a Director in 2016. Patrick has extensive knowledge and experience of the biotechnology sector and has made important research discoveries concerning how cells sense oxygen. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2005. He is currently a member of the boards of Cambridge University Health Partners, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge Enterprise and the International Biotechnology Trust.

Paola Subacchi is an economist, writer and commentator on the functioning and governance of the international and monetary system. Paola was appointed to the Board in 2014. She is Professor of International Economics and Chair of the Advisory Board, Global Policy Institute, Queen Mary University of London, a visiting professor at the University of Bologna, and the founder of Essential Economics Ltd. She writes regularly on Project Syndicate. She is the author of The Cost of Free Money (Yale University Press, 2020). She is also a non-executive director of BlackRock Greater Europe Investment Trust plc.